


Horrificator

by mimosaeyes, projectml



Series: Project: Scrapbook [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, project scrapbook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 02:38:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15184901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mimosaeyes/pseuds/mimosaeyes, https://archiveofourown.org/users/projectml/pseuds/projectml
Summary: What happened when filming?





	Horrificator

**Author's Note:**

> This work is part of Project: Miraculous Ladybug's Project: Scrapbook, 2017.
> 
> Authors  
> purr-cat-stinate - http://purr-cat-stinate.tumblr.com  
> mimosaeyes - http://mimosaeyes.tumblr.com
> 
> Beta  
> Kate - http://callmekate08.tumblr.com

By morning the sun was already gracing the citizens of Paris with its warm rays of sunlight that poured from the clouds down onto the earth. It was a lovely day, perfect for picnics, and walks in the park. It was a lovely day to discover something new; or perhaps to create something new.

Nino Lahiffe was bouncing in his seat, earphones around his neck, and fingers drumming against the desktop impatiently. Of all the days his best friend had to show up late, it would be today. OK…  _ technically _ Nino was early - but how could he help it! Apricot eyes wandered to his bag, and a grin stretched out across his face for the millionth time this sweet sunny morning. It was nearly impossible for him to sleep last night - and as soon as his alarm went off in the morning he was ten feet out the door (that is, until his mother grabbed him by the arm and had him sit down for some breakfast). 

His brain was going a million miles an hour, and it seemed the impatient tapping was his body’s way of letting out the energy in a somewhat subdued manner. The excitement was eating away at him. He had to tell someone before he exploded… but of course, for some reason Adrien wouldn’t answer his phone last night - and Alya was busy chasing Ladybug and Chat Noir as they defeated another akuma. Oh! Nino’s eyes widened, and he quickly took the flyer out of his bag. It was crumpled, and had a water stain on it, but it was brand new in Nino’s eyes. 

The flyer read: Short Film Contest for interested Youth! Create your own twenty-five minute short film, and submit it to Mayor Bourgeois. It can be anything you’d like, romance, action, or comedy! The winner will receive ninety-five euros as well as your short being shown on television. Good Luck!

Sure - he didn’t really have an idea yet, or a script, or well… anything… but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a chance! Nino was sure he’d be able to direct the best short film ever - and he could even make an awesome soundtrack for it. This was totally his chance to rise up as a performer, and a director! Not to mention he had Paris’s favorite teenage model on his side.

It took five minutes before Alya walked into class, a trail of tiredness on her face from her journalism adventures of the night before. She gave Nino a quick greeting as she slipped into her seat, stretching her arms as she sat. Nino turned in his seat, wanting to ask if she has heard of the short film contest, considering she was usually in the loop with… well, everything. However, Alya beat him to the punch as she leaned forward, looking more awake than before now, and she gave him a proper good morning.

“Morning Nino, so did you see the Ladyblog last night? I got some pretty crazy shots last night.” 

A quick feeling of guilt washed over him. The last time he checked the Ladyblog was yesterday afternoon, because after that he found the flyer in the mail and got distracted with the idea of a short film. It went away however, when Alya showed him her phone anyway, urging him to watch the clips she had gotten.

Another five minutes passed before Adrien walked in - looking even more tired than Alya did if that was possible - and that’s when Nino remembered the flyer that sat on his desk. His blond friend groggily gave a “G’ Morning…” as he sat in his seat. Nino wasted no time in shaking his half-asleep friend by the shoulders, shocking him in the process.

“Dude! I have to show you this-” Nino shoved the flyer into Adrien’s face, his eyes gleaming with excitement. 

“What is it?” Alya asked, trying to peer over to get a glimpse of the crumpled flyer now in Adrien’s hands. It was Nino who responded,  
  
“It’s a short film contest! Whoever makes the best twenty-five minute movie wins money  _ and _ their short gets run on tv!”

Alya blinked in surprise, a grin forming on her face, “No way, that sounds awesome!”

“Right! And I’m going to win it-” Nino threw an arm around Adrien’s shoulders, “Because I have a secret weapon.”

The blond blinked. “What?” he stammered, then did a double take in realisation. “Me?”

The director-to-be nodded, grin unwavering.

“Er... I don’t know, I haven’t really done any acting-” Nino quickly cut of his friend with a dismiss wave of his hand,

“Please, you don’t have to. Lights, cameras, action - it can’t be too different from modelling right? And you totally owe me dude! For ditching me like every time we plan to hang out.”

Adrien grinned sheepishly and held up his hands in a conciliatory way. “Alright, okay- I’ll do it.”

A sigh of relief left Nino, before he took back the flyer and smoothed it out. His apricot eyes reread the flyer, his excitement resurfacing once more.

“I’ll totally help you too, if you’d like - I can even get Marinette to help too.” Nino smiled at Alya, who leaned forward, chin on her hand, as she watched the two’s interaction.

“That’d be awesome, thanks!”

Just then Marinette stumbled through the door, drawing her friends’ attention momentarily. Her hair was unkempt, and she was completely out of breath.

“Geez girl, you barely made it here on time.” Alya’s sea green eyes followed her friend as she nervously gave a morning to Adrien and Nino, before plopping in her seat next to the journalist. 

“I know, I woke up late - again.”

Alya snickered, expecting as much.

“Of course you did. Hey but guess what Marinette, Nino’s making a short film and I volunteered us to help him.”

Well, that seemed to wake her up. “Wait - what?”

Nino handed Marinette the flyer, “The winner gets a cash prize and a TV showing!” The more people he told about the competition, the more the excitement bubbled up in his chest.

The short girl looked between the two, “I don’t know anything about making a movie though.”

Adrien smiled, “Me neither, but I kind of owe Nino.”

Alya watched with a sly smirk as the gears in Marinette’s head clicked together. A warm blush quickly spread across her face. 

“I-I’ll do w-what I can!” 

Alya and Nino shared a knowing look with one another, a matching expression on their face. 

“Oh you’re doing the short film contest?” A loud voice cut into the group’s conversation from the side, the whole classes eyes quickly turned to it’s source.

Not surprisingly, there stood Chloe Bourgeois with Sabrina behind her, both wearing a matching expression of mockery.

Nino looked over to the blonde who stood with her hands on her hips and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her all mighty attitude, “Chloe.”

“ _ Hmph _ , puh-lease, you’ll never be able to win the contest.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

The blonde huffed, her arms crossing over her chest, “My daddy is the judge of the contest, in case you didn’t read the flyer. Without me, you’ll never win it.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Why would you want to join us?”

Chloe scoffed, almost like she was offended to be asked the question. Sabrina mimicked the sound, crossing her own arms over her chest to be the mirroring expression of Chloe.

“Be- _ cause _ , Adrien is going to be with you right? If you add my good looks and popularity with his, it’s a for-sure win.”

Marinette huffed quietly, and Alya opened her mouth- ready to kick the princess off her high horse, when Chloe quickly started again.

“If you don’t let me join - I’ll make sure your stupid little film doesn’t even get glanced at.”

Nino gaped at the blonde in front of him. Rich people were scary.

“Chloe-” Adrien shot his old friend a look of disbelief, but she shrugged it off without a word.

“Fine you can join us. Whatever - just, like, don’t screw anything up.” Nino sighed in defeat, not wanting the blonde to suck the excitement out of the project.

“Moi? I never screw anything up.”

The four mumbled their own disbelief of that, but Chloe chose to not hear them.

“Hey did you guys say you're doing a short film?” Alix couldn’t help but lean over, intrested, “I could help you out if you need anything - like I could be the person that holds that ‘take’ thing. I’ve always wanted to do that.”

Alya shot Nino a look, which he returned with a grin. 

“Yeah - that’d be awesome. The more the merrier.”

On the other side of the classroom, Juleka and Rose had been listening idly to the conversation, unable to tune out any confrontation involving Chloe and Marinette. At Nino’s words, they leaned forward in their seats to enter the discussion. Rose’s eyes were gleaming with excitement.

“What about me and Juleka? Could we help? I have a tea collection at home I could bring!”

The taller girl mumbled something, but only “scary movie expertise” was really audible.

“Er- Yeah! That’d be great.”

Within seconds nearly the whole class had dropped into the conversation and began offering help, including Max, Kim, Nathanael, Mylene and Ivan. The excitement Nino felt this morning resurfaced, threatening to overflow his heart. Surely with so many people helping to work on the short film, it would be a success! Nino spared a look over to Chloe, who filed her nails as she chatted loudly to Sabrina about… well something probably. Not even she could ruin the project if the whole class was working to make it great.

Just as everyone was starting to chatter away about their roles in what had quickly become a class project, though,, Ms. Bustier walked into the class, calling for their attention. Nino quickly sat back in his seat, but not before telling everyone to meet in the classroom after school. His classmates dispersed back into their seats, all whispering excitedly for the new movie project. 

The director-to-be began putting the flyer away as Ms. Bustier called for attendance. His mind was anywhere but at his teacher’s lecture at the moment however, instead he was thinking of all the ways they could make a short film. Should it be sad? What about funny? Did he want comedy or maybe something more serious… or perhaps an action movie?

Nino’s apricot eyes sparkled at the idea. An action movie sure sounded like fun, maybe with adventure and slight romance?

“Nino!”

The boy jumped in his seat at the sound of Ms. Buster's voice. 

“Y-Yes?”

The teacher sighed, “Please pay attention when you hear your name being called.”

“My bad - sorry du - uh ma’am.” 

Nino let out a sigh as she went on calling the names of the other students. Adrien gave him a reassuring arm nudge, to which the boy gave a quick smile before leaning his head on his hand. Hopefully his ideas could wait until after school.

It was wishful thinking. Nino spent all of the school day with his mind on the short film. He tugged the increasingly careworn flyer out of his bag at odd intervals, unwittingly giving Alya much fodder for teasing him about the lovelorn expression on his face. The margins of his notebook were also entirely given up to scribbling random ideas that popped into his head throughout the day, from lines of cool dialogue to sketches of how he would set up each scene.

By the time the last bell rang and everyone began gathering again around his desk, Nino practically had a sales pitch in mind for the plot of his short film. He cleared his throat as he flipped open his notebook, quickly organising his thoughts.

He surveyed his classmates and noticed to his dismay that Rose and Juleka both had their backpacks slung over their shoulders already.

“Rose, Juleka, aren’t you staying to hear my awesome plan?”

“I have to rush home to get my makeup set, I need to make sure I have everything we’ll need,” Juleka replied.

Rose chimed in, “And I should get refreshments for everyone pronto! We can’t work if we’re all tired out from school.”

They both made good points, but surely everyone needed to be on the same page if they were going to work as a team, right? Nino opened his mouth to say as much, but before he could speak a word, his classmates had started drifting out the door. 

Alix went off to get the clap-board she had at home, Max to fetch his shiny new stopwatch, guaranteed to ensure efficient timekeeping, and Kim to borrow a boom mic from Theo, his friend and occasional DJ. Finally, Nathanael muttered something about art supplies and fell into step beside them.

Alya glanced at Nino’s expression and promptly intervened before they totally lost control of the filmmaking process. “The rest of you can stay, right? We can catch the others up on what we discuss now, but we should make sure we’re all agreed first.”

There was general agreement, even from Chloe, who deigned to let her arms fall from where they had been crossed over her chest. Nino sent Alya a brief look of gratitude.

“I was thinking something like an action movie. The main character is an agent for this top-secret organisation, who fights bad guys and is totally badass. They could be codenamed something ordinary, because their identity has to be a secret. Say, Agent Smith.”

“Ooh, or we could have just one bad guy in particular for  _ two  _ agents to work together to defeat,” Alya jumped in.

“Well, not just any garden variety bad guy,” Adrien piped up unexpectedly from beside Nino. When everyone turned to look at him, he seemed taken aback at the attention and hurried to elaborate. “Parisians are used to seeing crazy akuma villains, so if you want to make the action sequences intense, it should be a monster.”

Marinette quickly responded, “Yeah, that sounds great! I’ll text Nathanael to ask if he has materials to make a monster mask with.”

“Good stuff, good stuff,” Nino muttered thoughtfully, adding the new input to his marginalia. He tapped his pencil against his notebook. “What if the two agents were in love?”

“Nino, no.” Alya’s face set into a resolute expression.

“But every good action movie has a romantic subplot-”

“That is so not true-”

“-and how great an ending would it be if, like, one of the agents was in life threatening trouble, and then the other one saved them, and then they fall in love?”

“There will be no sappy love stories on my watch!” Alya exclaimed.

The two had a bit of a face-off, narrowing their eyes at each other, until Marinette, reading her text message conversation with Nathanael off her phone, hesitantly distracted them from their pseudo bickering.

“Um, Nath asks if Agent Smith needs a cape. Personally, I don’t think so, but what do you guys think?”

Nino broke his long glare with Alya to glance at Marinette. “Aw, why not?”

Adrien leaned back in his seat to gaze up at their raven-haired classmate, and she blushed slightly under his scrutiny. “I was just thinking that - capes are really bad for moving around in. A secret agent would wear something combat-ready, more tight-fitting…”

“Like Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Alya said in agreement, nodding her head. A quick peculiar gleam shined in her eyes and she scrunched her face up into a disapproving gesture. “No capes!” she declared, in an impeccable impersonation of Edna Mode.   


“It’s been ages since I’ve heard anyone make a reference to The Incredibles,” Mylene giggled, from the other side of the table. She had been quiet up to that point.

“Speaking of movies and references,” Sabrina cut in, “maybe we need to do some research before we get into writing the script. I could help you with that, Alya.”

Alya was just leaning over to peer at Nino’s notes. “Oh, I think we’ve already got plenty to work with, Sabrina,” she replied absently. “Maybe you could ask Juleka if she needs any help when she gets back.”

Sabrina withdrew slightly behind Chloe, feeling a bit down as she was unable to help.

“Maybe we could decide on some roles first, and then split up and work on it separately?” Nino suggested, trying to sound directorial and authoritative.

“Well, Adrien’s already been cast, and I bet Marinette would make a great Agent Smith…” Alya suggested, giving her best friend a sly look.

Marinette flushed. “N-no, Alya! You’re the one who’s always wanted to be a superhero and say cool one-liners, like - like looking right at the monster and saying, ‘I’m not afraid!’”

Adrien gave a low whistle. “That’s a great line, Marinette! We could build Agent Smith’s character arc around that.”

“Th-thanks, Adrien.”

“Yeah, Adrien, thanks! Character arcs, now we’re talking!” Alya reached out and grabbed hold of Nino’s notebook, whipping out a pen and beginning to draft a plot structure for the film.

Chloe had been watching them all with her perennial air of mild disdain. At a moment’s pause in the discussion, while Marinette looked bashful and Alya and Nino were bickering again over the notebook, she looked directly at Adrien, fluttering her eyelashes. “Well, if we need a lead actress to work opposite Adrien, surely I’m the best candidate,” she declared.

Alya and Nino paused in their squabbling, both of them clutching the notebook. They shared a look of total agreement, incongruent with their body language. “So…  _ anyone else? _ ”

“What about Mylene?” Ivan said quietly.

“M-me?”

Alya levelled a considering gaze over her usually timid classmate. “Yeah, I can see you as Agent Smith, or what we have about her so far,” she mused. “And isn’t your dad kind of like an actor? Maybe it’s a skill that rubs off!”

Everyone started nodding thoughtfully at that. Only Chloe was against it, beginning to seethe. “Her?! She’s so small and timid, what about me! I can actually string a sentence together without stammering.”

Mylene had unconsciously stood a little straighter at her classmates’ approval, but sagged again at Chloe’s contention. “She’s right... isn’t Agent Smith supposed to fight a monster? I don’t think I would be able to.”

Ivan and Alya chimed in at the same time. “Mylene, no, you’ll be fantastic!” “It’s just pretend anyway, no need to worry.”

Nino nodded along and then asked, “Alright, I’ll put Mylene down as Agent Smith, and Adrien down as… Officer Jones. They’re the closest thing we have to professional actors. Now, who’s going to be the monster?”

Chloe gave a snort. “That’s not going to be a problem. Ivan wouldn’t even have to act, he’s already been a monster.”

“Chloe!” Adrien protested, furrowing his brow at his old friend, who merely shrugged.

“It’s okay,” Ivan cut in unexpectedly. “If Mylene knows it’s just me in the mask, maybe she won’t be as scared.”

“Speaking of masks!” Uncharacteristically excited, Nathanael had returned holding a large armful of art supplies from his house, ready to make the monster mask and anything else they would need. Trailing behind him were their other classmates with the materials they had each fetched from home. Rose began setting up a refreshments table at her desk. Alix and Kim were in charge of technical production affairs, and stuck to Max’s side as he set his fancy stopwatch to warn them at regular intervals. Finally, Juleka approached with various makeup items, which she promptly dumped all over Nino’s table.

“So I have some DIY ooze, if we want to make monster goo or something, also fake blood, that’ll come in handy, oh, and I picture Agent Smith as a weathered, really experienced type, so maybe a scar over one eye to indicate that, add some mystery and cool factor? I can work on backstory, I have so many ideas…” The normally hushed girl spoke without taking a breath, though her voice was still muttered, she rapidly continued with makeup terms no one really understood. 

Nino blinked. Alya stared.

“Girl, it’s a  _ short film _ .”

“Just stick to powder or something,” Nino said hastily, using his entire forearm to nudge Juleka’s unexpectedly substantial supplies to one side. “Or er- foundation, is that what it’s called? You know, just make our actors look good.”

Juleka made a moue and, gathering up her belongings, sulked off to Rose’s table. Marinette could almost have sworn she heard her muttering, “I will be the powder master, you fools,” under her breath.

“Can Agent Smith have a dog?” Rose suggested sweetly.

Alix snorted despite herself. “When does a secret agent have time for a dog?”

The smile on her classmate’s face wilted slightly. “I just think it would be cute.”

Max glanced up from his stopwatch and pushed up his glasses. “Rose,” he started, trying to be gentle, “we don’t even have a dog.”

Rose’s face grew more crestfallen. It made Alix squirm, and rush to say, “We could always… pretend there was a dog. Who, um, died. But it was - it was  _ so cute _ .”

Juleka gave a contented smirk despite her powder dilemma, seeing Rose light up again. “Hey,” she said, nudging Rose to remind her of their inside joke, “we could call the dog Mr. Sniffles.”

Neither of them bothered to explain the context to their classmates.

“This is perfect for Agent Smith’s character development, though,” Alya muttered, scribbling away indiscriminately at Nino’s notebook, which the beleaguered director had finally surrendered. “After losing her beloved pet - Mr. Sniffles - Agent Smith vows to have her revenge!”

“What,” Kim finally interrupted, still clueless as to the plot. Nino began explaining it in earnest as Alya buckled down and began drafting the script, with Marinette peering over her shoulder all the while.

Nathanael tapped Marinette on the shoulder, drawing her attention away from Alya’s scriptwriting. He shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot, holding out his sketch pad to her. “So I was thinking of this design for the monster mask,” he announced, all in a rush. “It would be sewn together, see, kind of stylistically?”

She nodded eagerly, looking over the clear lines of his steady artist’s hand. “It looks amazing, Nath.”

The boy flushed almost as red as his hair. “Would you happen to have any scrap fabric at home? I know you design clothes and all…”

Juleka leaned over to peer at the design. “Are you going for like a Saw reference at all?”

He blinked at her in surprise. Secretly, he had rehearsed talking to Marinette, but wasn’t expecting someone to drop in on the conversation with his secret crush.

“Um, I don’t know what that is,” he confessed.

Juleka looked mildly horrified. “You need a horror movie consultant,” she proclaimed, and then proceeded to dragged him away to make modifications to the mask’s design.

Meanwhile, with what lines were coming hot off the press from Alya’s furious pen, Ivan and Adrien were standing in one corner of the classroom with Mylene, letting her practise some frightened expressions, then some determined looks. They praised her and gave her constructive feedback, which she received with a look of tentative pride in her newfound thespian prowess.

Sabrina interrupted Juleka and Nathanael’s designing. “Hey, Juleka, um… I know a lot about makeup, maybe I could…?”

Absorbed in the sketch pad, Juleka barely looked up and only faintly sounded resentful as she replied, “Oh, we only need to powder the actors, apparently, so I don’t need any help with that.”

It was Nathanael who noticed the look of disappointment on Sabrina’s face. “You’re good with research and computers and stuff, aren’t you?” he inquired hesitantly. He didn’t usually speak to Sabrina much; she was nice enough, but her allegiance with Chloe meant she was often accomplice to various mean things the other girl did to their classmates.

Sabrina nodded earnestly.

“Well, you could go to the library and type up the pages that Alya is coming up with. She may be a good writer, but her handwriting isn’t too great, and we’ll need multiple copies for everyone to refer to.”

The redhead was rewarded for his effort by the look of sheer joy on Sabrina’s face. It was the perfect task for her. She ran off to talk to Alya and Nathanael turned back to his designs.

Nino watched them all with a look of approval, then cast around the rest of the room. Alix and Kim were already bickering, unable to coordinate the clap-board with the boom mic, and totally forgetting about issues of lighting. Sighing, Nino went over to break it up and remind them of all technical aspects of filmmaking. He would handle the soundtrack himself, of course, but amateur gaffing and blocking were all tasks they had to keep in mind. He couldn’t be micro-managing; it wasn’t good for team spirit, and wasn’t his style, besides.

“Fine,  _ Mum _ ,” Alix drawled at him as he walked away from the resolved confrontation, and he gave a good-natured grin in return.

Was this what it meant to be a director?

By the time Nino had made one round of the room, he was assured that, although they were chafing a little at working together in their various roles, the class as a whole was bumbling along and making steady if uncertain progress. He returned to the back row, where Max was sitting alone for the moment, waiting with his stopwatch.

Max touched his arm. “Hey, Nino, when is the deadline for the film anyway?”

“Well that’s easy enough to answer, it’s…” Nino hesitated and pulled out his flyer, scanning it for the information he needed.

His eyes widened. Max probably knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth from the sheer look on his face, but Nino said it anyway, loud enough for everyone to hear. “OH MY GOD- IT’S DUE TOMORROW. Move it, people move it! Meet back here in twenty minutes with everything set up, every prop made!”

Within the minute everyone was rushing about trying to get it all done. 

Alix and Kim fell into a team rhythm as they set up for the filming- much to Nino’s relief. While Rose got all her refreshments in order by name, and helped organised all of Juleka’s makeup kit so that no stray brushes ended up in the background of a scene; and Marinette and Nathanael made a run for the scrap fabric back in her bedroom, and presumably used her sewing machine so as to finish the mask quicker.

In the chaos, Nino grabbed hold of Sabrina as she dashed out of the classroom with an armful of Alya’s script to be transcribed and printed in bulk for everyone’s reference.

“There’s this one last minute change, okay Sabrina? Just add it in,” he muttered under his breath, slipping her a post-it note discreetly.

“Why are you whispering?” she demanded to know, eyes widening.

Nino’s gaze flicked over to Alya, who was gathering her pens and shooing everyone away from the front of the classroom, where they would shoot the first scene.

Sabrina had read the post-it note before Nino could reply. “Wait, you wrote in a kiss between Agent Smith and Officer Jones! You’re changing the script!”

“Not so loud!” Nino hissed, mortally terrified that Alya would hear. “You can’t tell her, alright, just make the change and print it out, then it’ll be official.”

Sabrina looked dubious. Conspiratorially, Nino leaned in and looked right at her intently. “It needs this, alright? Trust me.” He patted her on the shoulder. “I trust you to make the right choice. Think of all the greats. Steven Spielberg style. Everyone puts in a little romance.”

Sabrina hesitated only a moment longer, then looked determined. “Okay,” she declared, hitching together all the papers in her arms. “Leave it to me.”

She scurried off, imbued with a greater sense of purpose than she’d had all afternoon.

The time flew by in a blur. Max announced it every time another five minutes had passed, keeping everyone in a flurry of activity. Chloe spent the twenty minutes whining about how slow everyone was, even as she herself merely perched atop a table, preening in the hope that they would all see the error of their ways and make her lead actress after all. Despite Ivan’s continued assurances, Mylene started to have a mini nervous breakdown as the time for her big acting debut approached. They were all fraying a little in the rush.

Still, at the end of Nino’s twenty minute deadline, Nathanael and Marinette had miraculously reappeared with a killer mask that satisfied Juleka and fit Ivan’s head perfectly. And Sabrina had come back, fingers shaking slightly from excitement and exertion, having typed up the entire script speedily and printed out enough copies of it in the school library for everyone to refer to.

Max flipped his copy quickly, scanning through it and musing, “Agent Smith is kind of like John Wick, is that okay? That movie was really kind of violent.”

Alya got defensive. “It’s different enough not to be plagiarism just because there’s a dog. And John Wick is like a dog superhero, okay, don’t diss him.”

“OK PEOPLE, PLACES.” Nino added in an aside to Marinette, “I always wanted to say that,”

The first try at the first shot of the first scene was an utter disaster. Mylene nervously stumbled through her lines, obviously reading from cards that Rose helpfully held up.  Adrien fared no better, missing his cue after Mylene’s line- leaving quite the long pause of awkward silence. That, and Kim sneezed about three times.

Alya sat at the desk, looking like she was trying to suppress a cringe, before casting a glance to Nino. The two shared a look of wariness. 

“Cut- Cut!” The up-starting director clapped his hands together, bringing the attention of the his classmates to him. “Mylene, I know this is new to you, but you gotta sound more confident! -And Adrien, bro, you gotta hit the mark with your lines.” Another sneeze came from Kim, who rubbed at his nose tiredly. Nino looked over to the athlete, “-And Kim stop sneezing so much dude.”

The three mumbled their own different responses, and thus everyone repositioned for take two.

Then a take three.

A Take four.

Take five.

“DUDE!” Nino nearly ripped his copy of the script in half, “Do you have allergies or something?”

Kim rubbed his nose hastily, “-Not that I know of... It’s just the light man. Makes me sneeze when I look at it.”

Alix deadpanned, “Then don’t look at the light.”

“It’s hard when you keep moving it right into my eyes!”

“That’s where the shot is!”

“Hey, you guys!” The duo’s quarrel concluded and Nino once again stepped forward, “Kim, why don’t you go stand next to Alix, that way you can get the sound- and won’t keep sneezing.”

The athlete muttered an ‘okay mom’ under his breath before begrudgingly standing next to the roller-blader.

“We currently have until tomorrow evening when this is due, which leaves us seven hours of daylight-”

Nino quickly clapped his hands together, “You heard the man! Let's get rolling!”

The scene was finally going smoothly, and Mylene was monologuing her ‘tragic past’ of losing her best friend, Mr. Sniffles, as she held a paper cut out of a dog. With practice, the class got better moving around each-other, quickly repositioning and setting up for the next scenes. 

Jukela zoomed right up to Adrien the first opening she got, a makeup brush and powder in hand. Mylene went over to Ivan and Marinette, who continued giving her constant reassurance. Alix, Kim, Max, Rose and Sabrina changed the positioning of the equipment, and made paper props with the help of Alya and Nino’s guidance; and Nathanael… well he continued to make changes on the monster's mask, taking off certain embellishments and painting different colors on the hair. 

The director barely spotted the artist hunched over the mask.

“Nathanael!” The boy looked up in shock, his eyes meeting Nino’s, “Dude why are you still adding on details? Stop changing the mask!”

Nathanael looked down at a sticky note that he had pressed on the desk he was working on, he looked back up at Nino with a frantic expression, “B-But… Juleka gave me all these references from horror movies- So many influences!”

Alya pulled the mask away from the artist, “It’s fine the way it is, plus we don’t have time for it to dry.”

Seeing the boy deflate, Marinette gave him a comforting smile, “Hey, but it looks really good as it is!”

The storm continued, more scenes being shot with random bits of silence and sudden ‘CUT’s being yelled out. Everyone continue to do their best to avoid creating a problem, except for Chloe, who may or may not have been flipping through the script and making random critics. 

About an hour in, Rose found her perfume bottle in her bag, and she sprayed a bit for Juleka to smell it as the scene was going. The raven-haired girl gave her a silent smile, nodding her head in approval to the sweet smell. The short blonde hair girl beamed brightly, spraying a bit more- and then a bit more- and then even some more.

Eventually the smell had worked it’s way to director Nino’s nose- as well as everyone else's- and suddenly their semi-organized production turned into a bunch of teenagers coughing and trying to air out the overwhelming perfume scent out of the room.

“Rose-” Nino gentle put a hand on the girl’s shoulder- who admittedly looked pretty horrified at what her perfume had done, “While I agree your perfume smells really nice, please, I beg you to stop spraying it.”

“S-sorry! I’ll make some tea for everyone, to make up for it!”

The director sighed once the girl had scampered off, watching as everyone was currently trying to shoo the perfume bombed air out of the window, and muttered something about this being the path to his death. Adrien lingered nearby, politely waving Juleka off as she went in to put another layer of powder on his face.

“Nino, maybe we should take a quick break. Get it aired out, and everyone refreshed?” 

“Yeah, you’re right bro. I think we could all use a little break.”

Alya clapped her hands together, “Alright then! Everyone take ten.”

Max looked down at his watch, “But we only have about five more hours of-”

“Take five then!”

A sigh of relief came from Alix, who promptly dropped the lighting equipment, and went over to sit next to Alya- the closest available seat. Rose quickly passed out cups of tea with the help of Juleka, and within a few seconds everyone had a steaming cup in their hand. 

Mylene and Ivan were laughing with one another as they blew the steam in each others direction, and Chloe rolled her eyes at them muttering comments to Sabrina- who listened eagerly. Juleka was explaining different horror movies to Rose, who tried her best to keep up with the many plots- and the dark haired girl continuously praised the blondes tea making skills in between rambles. 

Meanwhile Nathanael shyly showed Marinette and Adrien some of his quick sketches of Ladybug and Chat Noir as Agent Smith and Officer Jones- upon their request to see when he let the little information slip; while Alix and Kim bickered back and forth about a racing competition, while Max eased the competitive tension between the two. 

From nearby, Alya and Nino watched the class as they silently drank their own cups of tea in silent. Each individual in the class no doubt having their own thoughts and wonders, as well as questions and opinions. But for this moment they all seemed to share the same space. 

Rose, and Juleka who seemed to have a friendship deeper than anyone else knew; and Mylene and Ivan who sat close to each other, just seemed to be enjoying the company of the person they were by. Just like Nino and Alya, who soaked in the moment as they silently constructed the short film inside their own heads (even if it was a tad different). 

Nathanael, who bashfully showed his artwork, was an aspiring dreamer- along with both Marinette and Adrien who praised him passionately in a series of compliments. There was Alix, Kim, and Max were a bit like a never ending trio, something that would stay young and youthful even in their old ages. 

Even Chloe and Sabrina, who in the end always remained friends. 

For a short second, everyone was silent. Not literally, but more so it was as if all the conversations melted together into one. Their own silence was more of a buzz of warmth that resembled the way Mylene laughed at Max’s joke. Or the way Alya teased Kim for almost spilling his tea everywhere because he sneezed again. It was the trance-like state of no ill will, and a rare occasion where someday, anyone in the room could look back and remember the feeling in the room.

The same feeling they'll get years later, maybe curled up in a blanket watching a movie with the person they love. Maybe it'll be when they win a gold medal in the Olympics, or sooner when they get awarded MVP of the mathletes. Maybe it's when they start their own art comic, or perhaps when they start a jewelry shop. It might show up again when they decide to make watching horror films with tea a lifelong tradition for just two. 

It's the same feeling when they go on to study psychics as career choice, and when they finally open a boutique. When they get the journalism job, or a gig to DJ at their favorite club. 

The feeling of this moment is one of many in their lives. It's indescribable, and naked to anyone's eye. Only years later will they remember the magic of it all, and by then they will have more moments just like this. It's the warm, fuzzy moments when you remember why all the bad isn't so bad. Why you are around the people you're around. 

It's the best moments of living, that people all have the magic ability to create. 

The moments never last too long however, because if they did that wouldn't be as special. 

“Class?” The students turn their attention to the door, where Ms. Buister stands with a confused look on her face, “What are you all still doing here?”

Nino suddenly dreaded that he may have forgotten something, and with uncertainty he handed his teacher the flyer, “Er… Recording?” 

Ms. Buister’s eyes scanned the flyer, before once more scanning the room. Her eyes raking over each prop and equipment piece with her amusement growing at every item. 

“I… See. So you've gotten the principal's permission then?”

Eyes of every color turned to Nino, who gulped. 

“I- uh- of course!” He turned to his classmates, “Don't worry dudes I totally asked-”

Slowly, the director made his way out of the room, “I'm totally not going to ask right now or anything- so no worries!”

Finally, Alya just rolled her eyes and with a grin said, “Just hurry and ask will you?” 

To which the director replied with a salute, before turning on his heels and dashing to the principal's office- not however before his teacher handed him back the flyer. 

Ms. Buister stood silent, a small smile on her face, before letting out a sigh. “You kids,” she laughed to herself as she watched the students clatter on with bouts of laughter, “Sure are something.”


End file.
